Four Years of Festive Face-Time

AND ...

... 192 EXPRESSIONS IN (TECHNI) COLOUR

... Hip-shaking, back-breaking, friendship-making

Arts, Crafts, Collage & Montage-Memories

... coupled with poetry, floetry,

fabulous flamboyancy, fabrics & gems!

AND THERE'S MORE TO THIS SHIMMYING STORY YET

EARNEST THANKS to all who joined me then ...& to those HERE with me now, at the Palace in 2016! Let's make it fancy, schmancy, romancy ... & keep the colour & conviviality alive. 'OUR' story of sister-hood, solace & shared, common interest ... continues without bounds :)

With love & smoochies for my divinities, 

to whom I am completely beholden, 
Char Xx

IF YOU HAVEN'T, AND WOULD LIKE TO, YOU CAN FOLLOW MY PALACE ANTICS BY SUBSCRIBING TO THIS BLOG ... OR CONNECT WITH ME ON IG or  TWITTER, I SHALL LEAVE A CANDLE BURNING.

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#All writing/designs/'OneRoseOneRuby'products & photos (of Facebook-Past) by Rani.C (Char)

The Flower Of Power And Perpetuity

‘I forbid you to wear that floral get-up!’...said no Great-Grandmother, ever, in the history of Grannydom; well, at least NOT the fashionable ones. Yes, fashionable I tell you, for Nana was onto a good thing. As she waltzed around the room in the arms of her buoyant beau, a vision of verdant whimsy, with a ‘festival of flowers’ festooned on her frock……no one could know, this delicate damsel in designers, was a ‘keeper’….or at least, her DRESS was!

C.1954 Hubert de Givenchy's vine-embroidered gown.

C.1750 Coromandel-Coast printed linen Petticoat **

The budding rose, the creeper divine – bulging, bursting fruits of the forest & orchids in animated orbit – were the patterned picks of the day……& they liked to go by their foxy, Indo-European name 'CHINTZ'

Section of an early 18th.C wall-hanging.
(*All chintz pieces presented here were produced in the Coromandel-Coast, India)

(Rani's own reproduction chintz) 
Section of a 17th.C chintz floor-covering from Khandesh*. 
Cotton print purchased at the Calico Museum, Ahmedabad

Black-iron, Indigo & 'Chay'

While in modern parlance ‘Chintz’ has been used to describe any floral print, painting or embroidery, on cloth, ceramics, etc. – & to some extent, bandied about disparagingly, when confronted by gaudy, florid patterns & psychedelic petal perversions – its true mien is multi-fold. Traditional ‘chintz’ (a corruption of the North Indian word ‘chint’, meaning ‘to spray’) describes both the process & characteristic motifs of this 17^th century, Indian, textile phenomenon. 
 

Fancy cornucopia on a 17th.C  

bedsheet, incorporating yellow resist dye

21st.C reproduction chintz-style embroidery 

by the good Sisters of St Mary's, Amhedabad*

THE PROCESS

Designs, hand drawn with a bamboo pen (‘kalam’) onto calico (namesake of the city Calicut in Kerala, where the material derives), were filled in with colour, using natural dyes of black-iron mordant, indigo & red ‘chay’ (clay), one layer at a time, speckled or sprayed by hand, then made resistant via a dual technique of waxing & glazing. 

Early samples of chintz production

A process of steeping the fabrics in a mixture of acidic buffalo’s milk & a native plum, helped ‘fix’ the colours, while bleaching in dung (yes, dung!) ‘set’ the patterns. A good thrashing with the naughty stick (mallet) gave the fabric a luxurious lustre. This complex, bare-handed, hip-slipping, back-cracking process was repeated numerous times on the one fabric to produce intricate, multi-toned chintz.

C.1725 Section of a tent-lining

The designs themselves were a continuance of Hindu/Islamic devotion to the beauty of the natural world; organic shapes, flowers, botanics, vibrant tones, rich textures. 
The fruit of these efforts? Strikingly beautiful, sturdy, sumptuous bed-covers, drapes & floor-coverings. A fertile, textile treasure-garden had indeed germinated.

C.1750 Wall-hanging made for the french market

THE PLAYERS

It wasn’t too long before the French, English, Portuguese & Dutch traders, already hooked & high on the ‘spice’ of the subcontinent, sniffed on the smelling-salts of another opulent opportunity. As early as 1600, they were sending Indian Chintz samples to Europe for reproduction. Of course the labour-intensive methods could not be reproduced & were instead replaced by inferior, mass-produced mimics. This did not pass the royal requisites of fashion-forward females of the day, who wanted the ‘real-Indian-deal’. So, with demented demand at hand and discerning buyer afoot, export from India for the Western market, still limited & hugely valuable, became de rigueur. 

C.1710 Small Yoke/Blouse made from a wall-hanging 

for the Dutch Market

By the late 17^th, early 18^th Century, chintz hailed & prevailed, becoming increasingly customised & refined for French & English upper-class tastes. Different royal insignia, French/English fauna & flora, etc. were incorporated….at first flaunted as home furnishings, but soon escalating to essential ‘closet couture’.

C.1760 Linen waistcoat

C.1725 Coat of arms, pegasus &  

crest, featured on a wall-hanging

THE POSERS

Every person of prominence & position, from Queen Victoria and Marie Antoinette, right down to Madame Pompadour herself, sashayed & cavorted in chintz. It was the ultimate apparel for the Euro style-o-phile; exclusive, exotic &, make no bones about it, an exuberant display of one of the most profitable & propitious exploits of the East-India Company.

Francois-Hubert Drouais, 'Mdme de Pompadour'

Wearing Chintz garment. Oil on Canvas C.1764

C.1780 Jacket & Petticoat

C.1750 Section of a bedspread made from cotton petticoat linings

THE DECLINE

Though chintz production enjoyed considerable popularity for a generation or two, it was banned from import to Europe several times due to its threat to local mills. Ultimately, the invention of commercial roller printing saw to the demise of traditional, authentic Indian manufacture & trade.

C.1720 Section of a small, brightly colored cloth  

made for the Dutch market

'Jute-Garden' 'OneRoseOneRuby' shop's 

block-print, chintz cushion*

THE LEGACY 
Indian chintz, & the demand for it in the 17^th & 18^th centuries, triggered massive international trade, stimulated economies, governed fashions, dictated class & clique and fuelled parliamentary debates, illegal shipments (when outlawed), chastened confiscations & other scintillating scandals. It also left the legacy of a reference to ‘flower-power’ in fashion & furnishings in almost every decade since. This then spurned a love or loathing toward the humble, floral flounce or flourish.

Mid 18th.C woman's Jacket

Rani's retro, 1960's, floral shift-dress*

Chintz upholstery at Chateau de Cheverny, C.18th - Loire Valley # 

THE FUTURE

In recent times ‘chintz’ patterns have remerged as a baroque breath of fresh air in the world of predominantly minimalist interior design and fashion; from embellished, floral, brocade pants that bloom in boutiques to damask flower & fruit-vined wallpapers that wow the ritziest hotels.

Henry Wilson's

contemporary chintz wall-paper**

 Young debutantes too are re-entering the world of herbaceous-patterned long hems, twirling madly to funky tunes in flowery, flowing frocks. Perhaps, even holding on for dear life to Great Gran’s blossomed ball-gown, never again to snigger at the delicacy or ‘out-datedness’ of patterns that once danced rapturously to the strings of a different instrument;.......& all in the shadow of a distant artisan, who created them with his bare hands.

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Thank you for making space in your day to read my post
 PLEASE CONNECT WITH ME ON IG or TWITTER

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#Main images taken from 'Chintz - Indian textiles for the west', By Rosemary Crill (Personal Copy)

#Travel Photo

*Photos from the 'House of Rani'

**Images taken from 'Elle-Decor' - Celebrating India, Collector's Edition. (Personal copy)

#All Writing & Photography by Rani.C (Char) 

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Crazy for Paisley

*Recently featured front page of the Top Morocco Daily*

Seems ever since the Rani was knee-high to a golden foot-stool, a love for all things decorative & decadent has consumed her every waking thought & deed. From climbing up curtains, age 3, for the express purpose of attaching Mother's diamante clips to the pleats & folds, to attacking any white-washed wall within a mile, with crayons of every hue & fancy (resulting often in a light pat to the tush!), to plastering a whole library of books with fabric, glittering stars & flower-power motifs. And while this may describe the life & times of many a young'en, for Baby Rani, however, these were more than just the musings of girly youth.......these were the early expressions of interior decorating gone mad & a deep-rooted connection to her history. The need to adorn, embellish, 'make ones mark' so to speak........is, as the Rani will share, older than time itself.

Divined into wood-block

Earliest amongst those with this desire have been nomadic tribal groups, groups who have historically used the decorative tool to beautify, enhance &, above all else, 'communicate'. The 'Adivasis' of Northern India, illiterate as they were, devised an inventive marking, using the clenched fist, dipped into paint & pressed side-down to a surface.......a design that signaled their cast, creed & individuality. This design would come to be known (courtesy of the East-India Company & the weavers of a certain little Scottish town) as the iconic, indispensable, highly ornate & sensual 'Paisley'.

Rani's cotton, paisley bed-spread

Few patterns so vividly evoke the exotic, sumptuous style & grace of Indian arts & crafts. The Rani has been hypnotised since childhood. A true disciple of the lusciously curved 'droplet', who has incorporated the pattern into many of her own creations, not to mention wrapping her whole Palace in various interpretations of it.

See & judge for yourself the level of her Paisley madness!

Crepe-chiffon sari curtain with decorative floral/paisley borders

Pretty paisley detail

1960's vintage dress material with luminous paisley applique, used to upholster old drawers.  

Cut, stretched, folded, tucked & tacked by yours truly!

Silk/cotton, paisley-covered photo-album.

Made with love by yours truly.

Wrapping history with history!

Psychadelic scarves of paisley distinction,

& lastly

 My 'OneRoseOneRuby' shop's tribute to paisley

Above items can all be bought

from my On-Line Shop

(Click on tabs at top of page)

From the ancient Egyptians, right through to graffiti artists of today, a sign, a symbol, a flourish has captured & engaged us, started a dialogue & been the inspiration that has triggered more creative impulses. With her finger firmly on that pulse & a crazy passion for paisley.....the Rani's palace continues to positively vibrate!

#Committed to paisley? 

Do let the Rani know of any paisley invasions or manifestations going on at your Palace; in word or image.....the more divine 'droplets' the better!

Thank you for making space in your day to read my post

PLEASE CONNECT WITH ME ON IG or TWITTER

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*All images from inside the 'House of Rani'

#All Writing & Photography by Rani.C (Char) 

**If comments box does not appear, move cursor along pink bar below to reveal the

'comments tab'...I love to hear from you all!**